ic Red, Red Mime

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Greenbank, Freedom City, New Jersey

Sunday, August 31st, 2014
12:14 PM

 

To the few who knew her Noemi Newman was a taxi driver in the very busy streets of Freedom City.  Another head in the crowd, working day to day to get by.  To those fewer still, she was the experimental Red Rat.  A former spy on the run from those who wish to control her.  Using an old Soviet depot to better the world while avoiding drawing attention upon herself.

 

Therein lies the root of the problem.  Having done some springing cleaning of the hidden depot, Noemi had found a weapons cache from all the previous residents.  It was the mother of all Cold War payloads.  Soviet munitions that were out of date even when they were in use.  Coupled with some questionable black ops tech that was still considered advanced by modern standards.  Some of the cache was even nuclear or radioactive in nature, assembled in case the call for mutually assured destruction came through and left quite unstable.

 

Leaving the Red Rat with quite the problem on her hands.

 

Meanwhile,

 

Amir ibn Jafar ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Misri, commonly referred to by the public by the moniker of Asad, was currently hosting a weapons disposal event in Greenbank with the reliable Agnus Stone in tow.  In a city where superheroes contended with villains and their hired guns it was to be expected that there were still a lot of leftover and highly dangerous tech lying around.  Most of which wasn't stored in an evidence room and instead picked up by whoever found it lying around.

 

Rather than wait for the likes of AEGIS to claim proprietary ownership of said devices Asad had taken it upon himself to aid in cleaning the city sooner rather than later.  While it was to be expected that the normally busy entrepreneur could not attend every philanthropy event he funded, he made sure to make the time for this one.  The evident risk of a large collection of weapons being collected in a single location was not lost on him.

[Supercape]

Radiation

 

It had to be radioactive, didn't it?

 

Warning. Superior Soviet Radioactive Materials are [redacted] and only to be used by [redacted]. Handle with care and under no circumstances [redacted], particularly when [redacted] becomes [redacted]

 

Slave was being as helpful as an underwater candle. Clearly the payload had come with a lot of sensitive information that Slave automatically censored out. He could hack into the files on the materials, but sure wasn't going to share them. 

 

She left the safe house before she started sprounting tentacles. She probably had half a dozen cancers flowering in her body already. 

 

There was no question about it. She needed help. Ideas, experience...and if necessary, muscle. 

 

She pulled up her taxi outside the Weapons Disposal Event, and got out of the car. 

 

Best to go in unarmed...

 

She left her silenced pistol in the glove compartment. A top range silenced pistol. Handy, but also suspicious. 

 

Putting a comb through her hair and wearing the best clothes she could fin, namely a slinky but cheap evening dress, she slinked into the meeting. 

 

"Nuclear disopsal? I am all ears! The world is in a new ear of peace!" she said to those that could hear. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Normally Amir would show up in a suit and make an entrance with a flashy car, or something.  However, today was a bit different, given the nature of this event.  So he showed up a new suit all right.  A black form fitting body suit that covered up to his neck, stopping just beneath jawline.  It was matte, and unless someone got close they wouldn't see the fact surface of it looked woven out of something similar to carbon fiber, though it moved with his form, so that was clearly not the case.  However, it was the lines over the length of the form, radiating out from a shining circle in the center of his chest.

 

There was faint pulsing along the golden lines, almost line veins, despite a more clean, mechanical appearance to them.  When asked about it, he responded that he was showing off for the party.  Which wasn't too far from the truth, as he was, effectively doing a public test, it was safe, but he needed to get over his self-consciousness with it.

[Tiffany Korta]

With her work with Vanguard and the surprising rise in interest in her little recording studio, at least one major star was in talk to use her studio, Agnus hadn’t had any time to visit her on again off again boyfriend. In fact if it wasn’t for her manager she would have forgot about this event that they had planning attend what seemed like years ago. If it wasn’t so important she would have probably skipped the event.

Being a serious event she had decided to downplay her own appearance, wearing only a pair of jeans and a simple blouse, she even skipped her normal platform for a simple pair of flat shoes. Nothing was designer all stuff she bought from various charity shops around London. She arrived just after Asad had also arrived and as normal they’d almost instantly been caught up in a series of photo but the assembled press, during the first round of photographs she lent in and whispered into Asad’s ear.

 

“You look different, have you done something with you hair?â€

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Noemi's declaration was met with a chorus of applause.  Albeit an inattentive applause.  As it was only a scattered few whom paid enough heed to even turn their eyes as to whom had made the declaration in the first place.  All eyes were elsewhere.  Hushed whispers publically gossiping about the attire worn by the benefactor of this event.  Theories ranging from awe to distasteful.  With all but the most dedicated tabloid reporters reassured that Amir was in fact showing off for the event.

 

Aside from the turn in line, the event was indistinguishable from a proper gala.  The lighting and fine dining were both exquisite.  The difference being just how open it was.  Not only was anyone allowed entrance.  But the decorations and food were all produced by volunteers in solidarity.  All in pursuit of making a better tomorrow.  Some of the lest earnest guest had come simply to enjoy a party.  Making it all the easier for Noemi to blend in with the crowd as she moved.

[Supercape]

Warning: Opulent Corrupt Western Capitalism 

 

Oh shut up said Neomi to the Slave in her head. The stupid computer was useful. But it was also stupid. And annoying. 

 

Her eyes scanned the party, with Slave providing semi - useful or irrelevant information as all visible spectrums were analysed. Some guns in concealed shoulder holsters, she noted, in the big burly security men in suits and stiff postures. She hardly needed X-Ray vision to spot security here, but it helped. 

 

Wasting no time, she strode up to the host of the party. She had come for a purpose, and whilst she picked up a champagne glass and a hors d'oevre from a passing butler on the way, there was not much point in delay. 

 

Lets see if he falls for my charms...

 

Her dress was the best that she could afford. Namely, not expensive, but expensive enough. Her host would surely note the roughness of the cut, but it was still slinky, and showed more than a little leg, and more than a little decolletage.

 

"Hello, mister...or is it Prince?" she said, sucking an olive off a stick and taking a sip of champagne. Neomi had the fortune to look good, her natural slavic cheekbones augmented by a killer body thanks to Darwin - X, the virus that had mutated her. And Russian Agents were not ignorant of the use of "charm" to influence corrupt western sex addicts, as Slave would say. 

 

Not that the guy was bad looking himself!

 

"Swell party you have here.  I'm Honey. Honey Rider" She ad-libbed. "I guess you are the guy to talk to huh? You an expert on weapons grade radioactive materials?" she asked innocently. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Agnus had to deal with the fact that her boyfriend, or whatever, was a shameless flirt.  It was sort of how they met.  This was their first real length of time together after the explosion, and the stupid Fission Chips, and all of that, and it was telling because normally he had an arm around her, but that was not the case today.  He almost touched her several times.  It was telling, considering how he'd normally have a hand on her, and considering his body language besides the touching wasn't any more closed than it was normally.  He even leaned towards her when she went to whisper into his ear.

 

^{_{"I got a very several blow drying session.  It was in the news.  My beard wasn't right for a week."}}

 

His expression amused, as he glanced towards her.  He was happy Agnus wasn't wearing her platforms that urged her up past his height.  Not that he was sensitive by it, but it helped to be able to make eye contact.  She knew he wasn't comfortable, she knew what had happened, and now that he was in the suit was something that worried him, and it made him worry about touching her.

 

And then the incongruous woman stepped up, and she poured on the sex appeal, and once more Amir glanced to Agnus.  The amused expression on his face.  "Well I should have you know there were rumors of me being up for the role, even though I am not an actor... Honey.  And it is mister al-Misir.  Unless you are being very formal."  The golden lines gleaming along the suit, whether from the ambient light or something else was unknown.

[Supercape]

"Well I'd love to drop the informal and cosy up to the informal" replied 'Honey', before finishing he champagne. 

 

Warning: Alcohol levels suboptimal!

 

Suboptimal for what?

 

She eyed Amir's suit and the glowing lines. That looked interesting. And slightly worrying too. Glowing things always made her worry. In her head, she wondered if she had pancreatic cancer. Her stomach seemed to rumble in an unnatural way. 

 

Now the awkward bit. 

 

"So, it just so happens I may have come across some rather nasty glowing stuff" she said, squirming. Her foot turned inward, twisting. Her eyes rolled upwards, avoiding. This bit was not acting. As they taught you in spy school, the best way of lying was telling the truth. 

 

Amir was public with his superhero status. She was not. 

 

"Or rather, I know of a friend who has. A friend who would dearly like to get rid of it, properly and safely, but who would also dearly love to not get questioned by people who ask questions. Particularly by people who ask lots of questions, like, say, UNISON"

 

It was a gamble, for sure. Amir could arrest her now, and whilst the Red Rat was no pushover, and had plenty of unusual skills, she was no match for a genuine superhero who could fly to the moon and hurl trucks like baseballs. 

 

"That friend could really use some bona fida super powered help!" she said, giving big eyes and a smile. And a little lick of her lips. 

[TheAbsurdist]

It was going to be one of those days wasn't it.  "I swear I need to stop going to these events, every time I do now something weird happens."  And then he sighed and turned his head to kiss Agnus on the cheek.  "I am sorry dear, have to switch hats.  Managing to wink to her then before he moved to look at 'Honey.'  His hands going to his hips in suitably heroic stance.

 

"Now, now we drop the coy act.  Alright?  Where is it?"  Unlike her, he was on good terms in UNISON, and AEGIS, and a whole host of other big and important acronyms.

[Supercape]

In for a dime, in for a dollar...

 

Western capitalist monetary system is corrupt and obsolete. Translation: In for a superior soviet kopeck, in for a superior soviet Ruble. 

 

These days, Noemi was getting pretty good at ignoring Slave. 

 

"Hey, this is hot stuff, y'know, like you!" she winked. "I would love to tell you, but, like, not in the middle of a reception where people could be listening or have bugs implanted on you....you ain't bugged, are you? Not wearing a wire?"

 

Spy reflexes never really died. 

 

"Look, Ill tell you all on the way. I guess you got some nice wheels? Preferably something that can drive...well, not quite off road, but on roads that havent been repaired for a few decades?" she asked. 

 

Decadent American Automobiles are for corrupt and wealthy only. Analysis: Automobiles owned by Target are likely to be ostentatious phallic symbols, inferior to the Superior Functionality of Soviet Models...

[Tiffany Korta]

For now Agnus raised an eyebrow at the very unsubtle conversation going on around her. You didn’t spend any time around Amir without some women, and even the odd man, unsubtle throwing themselves at him, but this was probably a first for it creative approach. For now she wasn’t upset, more bemused but the slight surrealness of it all.

 

“Well Ms Onatopp I guess that makes me Cinnamon Bunns, how about we drop all this foreplay and get right down to why you’re here?†whilst Agnus had a bemused smile on her face there was a slight edge to her voice.

[Supercape]

"But I like Foreplay" gasped Noemi, hand to chest and with another wink at Amir. 

 

"Look mister, I am all for your lady Bunns here tagging along. Two's company. Three is more company. And all that" she said, her eye going into wink overload. 

 

"But, you see, my...special load..." she winked. Might as well go all out, she reasoned. "Is in a place I would rather keep secret, you know...secret like all those Superheroes with their masks and secret Identity" she said, winking again. Sheesh, if she winked any more they would call for an opthamologist. 

 

"I really need your help" she said, finally, and honestly, her shoulders sagging a bit. "Radioactive materials aren't my thing, you see. To be honest, they are absolutely the furthest thing from my thing that a thing could be" she finished, feeling slightly sick at the thought of all the mutations it would cause. 

[TheAbsurdist]

It took quite a bit to shut up Amir, as Agnus knew.  But that exchange did it.  Sure he caught the edge, she was throwing a meatball down the heart of the plate, and he was only about an eighth as dense as people believed.  Looking back to Agnus, he had to mouth the question of, "Can I call you that later?" to her.  And he tried to not laugh, and keep himself somewhat serious.  Though he half expected a smack.

 

Then he turned back to the other girl.  "You're... you're bad at this, I hope you realize that.  I mean, if you're corporate espionage, I hope you don't get paid for it."  He looked to Agnus again, "I am not wrong, am I?  She is really bad at the whole innuendo."  And then looking back to her, "You skipped merrily past titillating and right confusing."

 

And then he stopped, and sighed a bit, before rolling his head around on his neck, and staring straight up for a moment, one hand rising and pinching the bridge of his nose.  "So... you're a... something, and you know where some radioactive material is.  Fine.  Fine.  I mean, it's not as if I can go to one of these events and not have something weird happen.  Spit it out, because frankly, I have a feeling after tonight I wont be able to quite recall what you looked like anyway."  

 

Sighing and looking back to Agnus, before he leaned in close and kissed her cheek, "Ms. Bunns, it appears I am dressed in the proper suit for tonight."  As Amir had said, he planned on knowing why he was smacked for any given instance.  "If I get arrested by AEGIS will you visit my conjugally?"

Edited September 4, 2014 by TheAbsurdist

[Supercape]

"Bad at this? Well, I haven't much practice in disposing of Weapons grade radioactive material" she lied. There was that time in Iraq. And that didn't end well. The tentacles didn't drop of her face for a week.Thank Allah for the Burkha...

 

Not much made her nervous. Radiation did. Understandable, if being in the presence of the stuff could make her break out in green boils, or turn your hands into flippers. 

 

"So you will help! Great!" she said, hooking Amirs arm. "I knew you where a gentleman, ready to help a damsel in distress!" she agreed. 

 

"Your car or mine?" she asked him, and then whispered "Do you trust Cinammon? I mean...can she keep a secret?" she asked him cautiously. She trusted Amir, somehow. Perhaps because he was a superhero, perhaps because she was desperate, but a lot because he just generated a trust. Cinammon Bunns might be another thing entitely, however. Although she did like the name!

[TheAbsurdist]

His expression was one of shock and surprise.  Amir blinked a bit, his mouth hanging open, as he just looked at Honey Rider.  And then he closed his eyes and picked his mouth up off the floor, and drew in a slow breath.  He was like a mountain when she hooked his arm and tugged.  Amir didn't move.  His expression was serious, and to someone else it might be akin to the rattle of a snake.  "I take you are tangentially aware of who you are speaking to, and that's fine, my ego can accept that people are not aware of me.  However, you need to understand something," he leaned close to her, and there not a hint of intimacy in the gesture, "I am not playing any games.  Lay it out.  Now."

[Supercape]

Better do just that. 

 

Kinda...

 

The best deception is always the truth. The best truth is always a deception. 

 

"Fine. You got me. I am a Russian spy who happens to know where a whole stack of radioactive weapons grade materials are kept. And I want to get rid of it. And, incidentally, I am risking my life, or worse, by even talking to you right now, so give me a little slack, huh?" she whispered back. 

 

She could only hope he wasn't wired or something. Or, for that matter, his girlfriend was. Or maybe his girlfriend was being paid to keep tabs on him. What an awful menagerie of terrible possibilities. Still, better be paranoid than dead, as the Spies motto went. 

 

She raised one eyebrow and studied Amir waiting for his reply. She had laid it on the table. Now he had to respond. 

[TheAbsurdist]

A point in his favor, his expression lost the incredulous edge to it as he regarded her.  "There, did that hurt so much?  As it is, you've kind of set things off on the wrong foot by being coy when there are weapons laying around."  And then purposefully, he unhooked his arm from hers.  "Next time, don't do that to someone who has recently taken a thermonuclear detonation to the face.  Hm?"

And he moved back to Agnus, and slipped an arm around the small of her back.  "Up for a drive Cinnamon Buns?  _{I hope you realize you can't slap me for this.}" Going into a cheeky grin back to her.

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnus stood  there as quietly as she could, both amazed  by the conversation and trying to workout how to invite herself along. In a stroke of luck the two seemed so fascinated with this possible threat, and it was something she was worried about herself, that they seemed quite happy to drag  her along.

 

And who was she to arue?

 

With a smile she lent in a stage whisper spoke to Asad.

 

“If you keep that up then there will be no buns for you at all!â€

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Amir did the driving.  As noticeable as his sudden disappearance was, it wouldn't have been nearly as noticeable as him sitting in the back of Noemi's taxi for comparison's sake.  The gaps in silence while trapped in traffic were filled with a mixture of innuendos and awkward silence.

 

Eventually they arrived to their destination.  It appeared to be an abandoned lot with a run down looking building that had its doors boarded up.  The only available entrance was akin to a stairway leading down into an abandoned subway tunnel.  Some four hundred yards away the faint appearance of an equally decrepit looking depot sat.  In big bold letters the words Grin and Bear It on full display.

 

The depot was not their destination, but Noemi was quite familiar with the location on a personal level.

[Supercape]

Noemi was impressed with the car, at least. 

 

Safe house must not be compromised to non approved individuals!

 

"So, here we are" said Noemi to Amir and Bunns. "This is my hang out. By which I mean, Cold War Soviet spy base now serving as my secret Liar" she said, looking at the two of them closely. 

 

"My name is the Red Rat. I used to be a Soviet Spy for the last fifty years. Then, somebody woke me up and I work for myself now. By which I mean, I'm one of the good guys". She undid her hair to let if fall down. The Red Rat was hardly well known in the city, but if they had ever seen her, it would ring a bell. 

 

"I think its safe in here. But, two things. If I go blind, don't worry. Too much..." she said, crossing her fingers. If Slave really did dissaprove he would cut the signals from her eyes, or at least censor it. "And secondly, radiation and me have a really bad history. So lets just hope I don't mutate into a pool of acidic green slime, huh?" she said, getting out of the car. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Fortunately tonight was a night where he had a car spacious enough for three people.  Supercars were not notorious for their passenger capacity.  Now a Maserati Quattroporte fortunately had comfortable rear seats.  And was fast enough that he could get there a bit quicker than others would expect.  Through the drive Amir continued the banter, and then when it came to a halt in front of the shack, he sighed a bit.  Stepping out, he opened the door for Agnus and held out his hand to help her, wisely doing that first.

 

"Mm, so a cold war relic..."  He sighed a bit and flexed his arms a bit.  "Alright, alright."  Now this would be a bit of a questions, such as would Agnus reveal her heroine identity.  It had been a trail he hadn't pursued.  Because... well he didn't care.  He had a lot of things to occupy his 'free time,' and his girlfriend's mask was not one of them.

[Supercape]

Neomi got out of the car as gracefully as her dress would allow. She wasn't exactly used to such garments, but she was no stranger to them either. And she did have a graceful walk. Whatever Darwin-X had done to her, she was a smooth and slick as a panther. 

 

"Grin and Bear It" welcomed them. This part of town was not nice, and was largely abandoned crumbling buildings. Grin an Bear it was no exception. She and hoped she had flushed out all the killer robots and semi formed clones that had plagued her on the first visit. 

 

"Welcome to Russia" she said with a raised eyebrow and a wink. 

 

She went to the cash till and pressed a few buttons, careful not to let the others sea. Spy habits die hard, after all. 

 

Then, the ground slid away revealing the stark iron tunnel leading to the underground Safehouse...

[Tiffany Korta]

Well this day seemed to be getting weirder and weirder, and considering her normal days that was unusual.

 

“So basically all that spy stuff was more or less the real deal? And a little more about that gonig bling thing would be nice to know as well. And don’t worry I’m not keen on the whole radiation thing.â€

 

She looked down at the dress she’d pick out for the nights even, which was not the best for going and fighting

 

“Oh and call me Agnus. Though if Samuel L wants to call me Cinnamon...â€

[Supercape]

"Agnus it is" replied the Rat, as she lead the couple down into the Safehouse. Old lights sprang into action, illuminating the passage down to the core. 

 

"And yes, the Spy stuff is real. I used to be a Spy. A long long time ago. I worked for the KGB during the cold war. They kept me on ice, and I do mean that literally, between missions. Suspended animation"

 

"As you can imagine, this was not my choice. I was pressed ganged into it. They...did things..." she said, vaguely and with a raspy edge to her voice. They did SLAVE to her, a computer linked to her brain. 

 

"Once the wall came down, they forgot about me. Then, I woke up. Hello modern world" she explained. 

 

"I found this safehouse built under Freedom City. I don't know how. And I suspect it is not the only one, here, or around the world. I begin to suspect that something was going on...something bigger than even the KGB knew about. I heard rumours...the Sleeper, Doctor Zero...but nobody knew anything more than whispers..." 

 

She brought them into the central hub of the Safehouse, a stark, illuminated and functional control room, built in the style of the most brutal Communist architecture. 

 

"Welcome to the safehouse..." she explained. 

[Brown Dynamite]

GM

 

Their descent into the base was met with the echo of their footsteps.  The hub was enormous the size of a Cavern.  And even Noemi had yet to fully find every secret access panel.  Otherwise, she would have discovered the radioactive material on her first tour of the place.  Or any subsequent visits.  Leading them towards the library the Red Rat would find her way to a coffee table.  Where upon arriving she'd open a fake globe pushing a red button an a hidden access panel inside.

 

There would be a low rumble throughout the hub.  And the Red Rat would have to give the group the runaround again moving towards the dull grey gymnasium, which housed equipment older than the parties in the building, they'd find a secret access tunnel to a weapons bunker.  It was convoluted for sure.  But one couldn't argue as to how secure the hidden room that predated safe rooms.

 

The weaponry laid out in the bunker was of a wide variety.  Ranging from automatic rifles to experimental super weapons of the soviet age.  The payload of the explosives was nothing to sneeze at.   Some of the super weaponry was easily identifiable to those whom have seen the old films of Freedom City back in the day.  Such as the villainous Frost Factor's Freezing Bazooka.  Judging by the compiled paperwork, it seemed as if the hub accommodated a large variety of spies and supervillains during the Cold War.   Preparing for inevitable foreign attack on US soil when war broke out. 

 

As that never came to pass it could be inferred that Freedom City's heroes of the times were left to contend with the criminals over the years.  In the center of the weaponry was a fogged over tank with a black ooze silhouetting any potential content.